Pot and pan washing machines, of the type used in restaurants, institutions and other eating facilities often involve a large wash tank or basin in which water is circulated to provide a continuous motion rolling wash action for the pots and pans and other “wares” (i.e. pots, pans, utensils, flatware/silverware, etc.). One such continuous motion style pot and pan washing machine is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,436 issued to Cantrell et al., the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The machine of Cantrell includes a wash tank with multiple jets evenly spaced apart at an elevated position along the rear wall of the wash tank. The tank is filled with water to a level above the position of the jets. Pots and pans are placed in the wash tank, and a wash pump is activated to draw water from within the wash tank and direct it through the jets to create a jet stream. Each jet directs its jet stream toward the bottom wall of the wash tank, the bottom wall then deflects the jet stream upward and towards the front wall of the tank. The front wall then deflects the upward moving jet stream towards the rear wall of the tank, and the rear wall deflects the jet stream downward and back towards the front wall along the bottom wall. The combination of deflections of the jet stream from the bottom, front and rear walls provides a rolling washing action within the wash tank. Typically, the rolling wash action is continuous through the washing cycle of the machine, and wares are loaded and unloaded during the washing cycle as they are deemed clean by an operator of the machine. In this manner, multiple loads of wares are cleaned during a single washing cycle.
Although the prior art pot and pan washing machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,436 provides an exceptional wash action, many of the components discussed above hinder the overall efficiency and performance of the machine. The inventions disclosed in U.S. application Ser. Nos. 09/947,484; 09/947,485; and 10/744,666, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, provide components that greatly increase the overall efficiency and performance of the machine, including improvements to the intake and discharge manifolds, jets, pump and system assembly methods. Nevertheless, none of these improvements, nor the machine of U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,436 address a number of disadvantages in typical condition warning systems, control systems and control methods for such machines.
Conventional control systems and control methods for continuous motion style pot and pan washing machines typically include control logic that limits a washing cycle to a predetermined run-time. Once the predetermined run-time has elapsed, operation of the wash pump is disabled and the wash tank of the machine must be drained and refilled before another wash cycle can begin. This ensures that the cleansing fluid solution in the wash tank is usually drained and refilled before the soil level in the fluid significantly and detrimentally impacts the cleaning efficiency of the fluid within the washing machine. In many applications, a run-time of four (4) hours has been found to be an adequate cycle run-time before refilling of a wash tank is desired. Nevertheless, it will be appreciated that a number of different factors impact the desired predetermined run-time for a particular application. Also, in certain situations, a wash cycle will be prematurely terminated before the predetermined runtime has elapsed. For example, in some machines a safety kill switch is included in the control system to shut down the entire system when the fluid temperature in the wash tank exceeds a predetermined safe operating temperature. In such case, regardless of the elapsed run time, the wash tank must be drained and refilled, and a new wash cycle must be initiated before the washing machine will operate again.
Although conventional control systems and methods discussed above do provide benefits in ensuring safe and/or efficient conditions for the cleansing fluid solution in the wash tank, the requirement that a new wash cycle be initiated limits the ability to utilize the same or similar control systems or methods for enforcing compliance with many desired machine operational conditions, that are less critical than safe operating temperature and/or cleansing fluid soil level (such as: preferred wash, rinse or sanitizer fluid operating temperatures; preferred wash, rinse or sanitizer tank/supply operating fluid levels; preferred wash, rinse or sanitizer fluid operating chemical concentration levels; chemical supply levels, pressures or concentrations; etc.). Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide control systems and methods that help to ensure or enforce compliance with such operational conditions, and which do not require resetting of the washing cycle and/or draining and refilling of the wash tank.
Furthermore, the predetermined run-time often causes difficulties toward the end of a wash cycle. Because wares are loaded and unloaded throughout the wash cycle, wares loaded towards the end of the wash cycle may not become adequately cleaned before the wash cycle is completed. Thus, the wash tank must be drained and refilled and a new wash cycle initiated to finishing cleaning those wares. If a facility is close to shutting down for the day, refilling the wash tank ends up being extremely time consuming as well as a waste of resources. This problem is further augmented by the fact that conventional washing machines do not provide operator's any indication of elapsed run-time or any notice in advance of completion of a wash cycle. Thus, unless an operator makes note of when a wash cycle is initiated, it is impossible for the operator to determine when a wash cycle will be completed. Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide control systems and methods that allow an operator to adequately wash wares at or toward the end of a wash cycle without requiring initiation of a new wash cycle.
Conventional control systems and control methods for continuous motion style pot and pan washing machines typically include a single standard/normal washing cycle, which limits a wash cycle to a predetermined run-time in the manner discussed above. In some machines, the control systems maintain a minimum or predetermined fluid temperature within the wash tank after a washing cycle is completed to improve soaking effectiveness. This enables an overnight washing mode in which heavily soiled wares can be placed in the wash tank and cleaned during the entire washing cycle and additionally soaked for the remainder of the night after the washing cycle is completed and before the items are removed in the morning. While this does improve the ability to clean heavily soiled items, the fluid is often no longer emulsified by the time items are removed, soil coagulates on the surface the fluid and even reattaches to the wares. Thus, additional or redundant cleaning is often necessary. Thus, it would be beneficial to provide control system and methods that improve a washing machine's cleaning of heavily soiled items.
Conventional control systems and control methods for continuous motion style pot and pan washing machines, as well as those for other apparatuses (including, but not limited to kitchen appliances, automated manufacturing machinery, milling machines, conveyor systems, condition monitoring equipment, and the like) in which operational, safety or compliance parameters are monitored, typically utilize condition warning systems that either require an operator (defined broadly herein as any person that controls or monitors an apparatus) to closely monitor a display or control panel directly in front of the operator, or otherwise provide loud audible alarms or visual warnings that are directly in the line of sight of the operator. In addition to alerting the operator of an apparatus, audible alarms and line of sight visual warning signals also tend to alert other persons in the general vicinity to whom such alarms or signals are not intended and often undesirable to be communicated. In particular, in restaurants, loud audible buzzers and/or line of sign visual signals tend to detract from a customer's dining experience, and also can cause confusion and/or frustration among employees that are delegated to various different tasks that each utilize similar alert methods. Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide a condition warning system that does not require an operator to closely monitor a display or control panel and which at the same time minimizes the communication of alert signals to undesired and/or inappropriate recipients.